Pa. Township`s Police Use Naloxone to Revive Man

March 01--From a small boat on Blue Marsh Lake on Tuesday afternoon, a fisherman spotted what he thought was a body on the shore in Lower Heidelberg Township.

Lower Heidelberg and Bern Township police arrived from different directions: Bern police drove their patrol cars over the dam breast in the township. Lower Heidelberg Township Police Chief Thomas Deiterich got there by way of the Western Berks Water Authority treatment plant on Water Street off Rebers Bridge Road.

They found a man, who appeared to be in his 40s, barely breathing from an apparent heroin overdose, Deiterich said.

Bern Officer Pete O'Brien deployed the naloxone kit that his department issues to officers at the beginning of their shifts. The kit contains doses of the medication, sold under the brand name Narcan, which blocks the effects of opioids within minutes of being administered.

After the second dose was sprayed up the man's nose, he started to come around, Deiterich said.

"Kudos to the Bern Township officers for their Narcan," Deiterich said a short time later. "It brought him back."

The save came just before Gov. Tom Wolf's administration recognized more than 300 municipal police departments and the state police for their officers having reversed more than 600 opioid overdoses in slightly more than a year.

Park rangers and personnel from Western Berks Ambulance and Western Berks Fire Department helped out in Tuesday's rescue.

The man was placed on a backboard and loaded onto the boat borrowed from the 9-1-1 caller. Rescue personnel ferried the boat to a spot where he could more easily be carried to an ambulance.

The ambulance crew took the man to Reading Hospital. Information on his medical condition was unavailable.

Deiterich said the man is fortunate the fisherman was trolling from his bass boat at the time. The man was found about 200 yards south of the emergency spillway.

Bern Police Chief Wesley R. Waugh said his department has issued naloxone for about three months, using funds distributed by District Attorney John T. Adams.

In December, Capital BlueCross said it would provide $100,000 in naloxone costs for law enforcement in Berks, on top of a previous donation of $50,000. Adams earmarked those funds to eight departments that were reimbursed by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, which is administering the grant program.

At least 10 Berks departments have naloxone, but Adams said more are expected to get the kits.

"I'm looking forward to other departments joining this program because the Narcan is free of costs to the departments," he said.

Deiterich said his department and Bern police enjoy a good working relationship.

"Anything on the lake we try to work together," he said. "We come in on one side, and they come in another."

Contact Steven Henshaw: 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.

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